With ‘Lyk Dis,’ NxWorries Makes Good on Its Potential

Duos don’t get much more promising than NxWorries. You’ve got Knxwledge, laying down shambling, unquantized drums over magically chopped samples like Dilla Dawg reincarnated; you may have heard his work on “To Pimp A Butterfly,” where he contributed the beat to the sublime “Momma.” And you’ve got Anderson .Paak (don’t forget the dot), the hidden king of 2016. After popping up indelibly on Dre’s “Compton,” he made this year his own with a soulful sophomore effort on Steel Wool/OBE/EMPIRE records, “Malibu,” and scene-stealing features on albums like Kaytranada’s “99.9%” and Schoolboy Q’s “Blank Face LP.”

Yet it turns out they’ve got a long way to go in fulfilling all of their promise. NxWorries’ breakout song, “Suede,” made for a trifling listen. Knxwledge flips a Gil Scott-Heron sample for the beat, slowing it to a sluggish crawl and sapping it of its energy. Meanwhile, .Paak coasts on his charisma, half-rapping and half-singing about such regressive topics as his fancy car and the coked-up girls sitting in it. Given the talent involved, the almost careless nature of “Suede” made for an inauspicious start. Yet the end of its music video offered hope: A smooth 30-second snippet that left people clamoring in the comments section. This snippet sat unnamed for over a year before NxWorries finally released the full version as the third single off their upcoming album, “Yes Lawd!”

That single, “Lyk Dis,” is a step in the right direction. .Paak continues to behave as though there’s nothing new under the sun, rap-singing about morning sex and milking the subject for all its worth. Yet he brings a sense of melody that only appeared in glimmers on “Suede.” Just listen to his syncopated delivery of the line, “No need to thank me, yours for the taking and yeah,” his voice easing onto each descending note like a Slinky down a staircase. Even his intro, which only consists of the words “yeah” and “oh,” is more infectious than anything on “Suede.” Knxwledge also steps up his game: Instead of stumbling around lazily like “Suede,” “Lyk Dis” flows like honey, with a soaring violin and a lurching bassline that circle each other before coming together in unearthly harmony. The brisk tempo and clattering percussion thwart the track’s destiny as mood-setting music, but they also manage to transform it into something new in the process—a kind of mutant slow jam, a song both sensual and alien. With “Lyk Dis,” NxWorries finally harnesses the peerless talents of its members and makes good on its name.